Sino Group confirms green credentials with strong support for "Earth Hour" 2009

Over 100 Sino properties (including thirty-two commercial buildings and over 80 residential buildings) and four Sino Hotels (Hong Kong Gold Coast Hotel, Royal Pacific Hotel and Towers, Hong Kong Island Pacific Hotel and City Garden Hotel) will join "Earth Hour" 2009 by turning lights off at 8:30pm for one hour on 28 March 2009.

Mr. Sunny Yeung, Executive Director of Sino Group said, "Sino Group keenly promotes environmental awareness via energy saving, green landscaping, waste reduction and green education. We are happy to see so many companies supporting "Earth Hour 2009", which will definitely help to draw public attention to the importance of environmental protection."

As a leading Hong Kong developer, Sino Group and its subsidiaries have implemented many green measures in building and managing its portfolio. Sino Estates Management was accredited with the ISO 14001 Certification on Environmental Management System and 16 Sino properties were recently recognized with the Hong Kong Green Mark Certification. Over the years, numerous Sino green initiatives have been recognised, for example, more than 30 Sino residential properties have joined the EPD's Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste, and over 100 certificates were granted the Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings by the EMSD.

Sino has also been incorporating green elements into its properties' design and management. Skyline Tower, a pioneer in Sino's green management programme, features a range of energy-saving equipment, including a water-cooled chiller system that saves 35% of electricity consumption compared with air-cooled systems, the use of LED lights in EXIT light boxes, which saves 85% energy compared with traditional fluorescent ones, and shower water taps that save 15% of water consumption. Moreover, solar and wind energy systems are undergoing a trial run in certain properties to further reduce energy consumption.

The company again revealed its strong environmental spirit recently when forty-six Sino properties applied for the Environment Bureau's newly launched guidelines for carbon auditing. This initiative calculates the amount of greenhouse gas an operation generates. Understanding this enables an appropriate carbon reduction programme to be developed for any property. On the other hand, one hundred Sino Property Services managers have graduated from the Sino Green Academy as Green Ambassadors qualified to promote green management and environmental awareness throughout 180 Sino-managed properties.

The Sino properties participating in "Earth Hour" 2009 include the following commercial buildings: